


Everyone's Favorite Pants

by mountain_ash



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Awesome Laura Hale, Bookstores, Derek in Uniform, Fluff, One Shot, Tattooed Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-20 12:51:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4787867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mountain_ash/pseuds/mountain_ash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Those pants make your ass look good."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everyone's Favorite Pants

**Author's Note:**

> based on this [prompt](http://thesterekpromptsite.tumblr.com/post/86082775728/umm-i-really-want-a-story-where-stiles-gets-a)
> 
> Comments always appreciated and come visit me on [tumblr](http://a-mountain-ash.tumblr.com/)!

The used book shop that had just opened up in Beacon Hills wasn’t exactly what Stiles had in mind for a post-college job, but they were looking for an assistant manager and he needed something to do during his gap year before grad school. He had always loved research so he’d majored in library science, but jobs in that kind of major didn’t pay well without a Ph.D, so he figured he’d stick out school for a few more years if it meant eventual job security.

None of the towering shelves had been stocked yet when Stiles stepped into the shop called “Bound and Determined.” The place had given off a slightly “devil-may-care” attitude so Stiles had decided to dress a little less formally for the interview, sporting a checkered blue button up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows tucked into almost sinfully tight khaki chinos. To spruce up the look and counteract the sleeve of tattoos on his right arm, he wore the chocolate brown leather oxfords that were his pride and joy.

The owner and manager, a young woman with long, dark hair named Laura, stepped out from behind a shelf when the bell above the door rang. Her eyebrow raised almost imperceptibly when she looked him over once, and Stiles would have missed it had he not been raised by a sheriff. He suddenly felt shy, like he overreached with his wardrobe choice, but his fears dissipated rapidly when she gave him a big smile and waved him towards the back. If he thought it was weird that she followed him through her own store, he didn’t say anything.

“So, Stiles was it?” Her face crinkled as she said it, and he could tell she was very professionally trying to not laugh.

He grinned sheepishly and rubbed at his face momentarily. “Uh, yeah. Nickname. I hope that’s okay.”

“No problem at all. Now, to the important things. Why do you want to work here?”

“Well I majored in Library Sciences at Berkeley and I’m looking at getting a Ph.D in some kind of archival research, maybe in mythology. I’ve got a year in between though, and I really love used books. Helping people find those old treasures is what I live for.”

Laura regarded him for a moment, as though trying to figure out if he was telling the truth, before nodding emphatically. “Let’s get you started.”

“Really? Just like that?”

“You already told me you want full-time and I can tell how sincere you are. Besides you’re the Sheriff’s kid and you have a good reputation. Always have.”

“Oh. That’s great then. Thanks so much.”

“Now, let’s work out some formalities and get going on to training you.” They stood and headed over to the register. “First things first, I want you always dressed like this. You look sharp and a bookstore could always use a little help drawing younger customers.” Stiles could have sworn he saw a devilish little smirk, but she turned away too quickly to be sure.

“Wait really? I was sure this would be a little much.” Stiles gestured with his big hands up and down briefly. “Especially the pants.” He added under his breath, apparently not quietly enough because Laura’s smirk broadened.

“Nope, you better buy another pair because you’re going to wear those pants everyday.”

Stiles didn’t know what to make that, so he just shrugged and moved the subject along. “So what do I have to do first?”

And so Stiles went about organizing, labeling, and stacking the shelves. Despite the fact that the store wasn’t remotely ready, Laura turned the sign to “Open” and curious people looking for a little air conditioning to escape the heat of summer began milling in now and again. Stiles was usually up on the sliding ladders with a precariously mounted box of books looking for the proper shelf space when he would hear the bell ring aggressively, signalling a new customer. The first few times he had almost fallen off the ladder in his typically exaggerated fashion, until he eventually got used to it.

The customers didn’t usually say much to him, only looking around confusedly when he welcomed them until their eyes finally found him from below, high up on his ladder. For the first week or two it was usually middle aged to older women, often times the same ones again and again, whose mouths would quirk into a mischievous grin upon looking at him before they returned his greeting. Stiles really didn’t get what was up, because he had never gotten this kind of attention in college. Granted he usually looked like a slob back in his school days. Maybe the older women were scandalized by his tattoos?

Eventually the shelves were mostly stacked and he spent less time on the ladder. Since only he and Laura were allowed on it, he had made sure to keep more popular subjects on the lower shelves so patrons could get them themselves. It didn’t escape his notice that customers, mostly girls, young women, and a few men now, kept requesting strange books from the top shelves.

 

“I don’t get it Scott!” He told his best friend who was visiting for the weekend from his veterinary internship in Oakland. “There can’t be that many people excited about those obscure old books. And the smirks! It’s weird.”

“I don’t know dude. You’re asking the wrong person. I’ll ask Lydia and Allison to drop in. Maybe they can sleuth it out.” Scott was enjoying this too much.

 

About that time, Stiles learned of the fact that there was an apartment above the store that Laura’s reclusive brother Derek lived in. One day, he got to the store earlier than usual to get the last burst of shelving done. Suddenly a door in the back of the shop shut with a loud creak and this time Stiles did literally fall from five or six rungs up the ladder and landed with thud on his tailbone.

Letting out a yelp, Stiles tried to stand to face the potential intruder but he couldn’t, pain searing through his rear.

“Are you okay?” Stiles looked up to see a man way too beautiful to be talking to him. He was standing over Stiles with his arms crossed, a expression stuck between amusement and concern playing on his sharp, stubble covered features. He wore a uniform that did little to hide his muscled physique.

“Uhhh, you’re Laura’s brother. Derek?” Stiles remembered the picture of the siblings in her office. The man nodded gruffly.

“I’m taking you to the hospital before I go to work.”

Stiles mouth fell open in disbelief. “What? No! I’m totally fine!” His tailbone definitely didn’t feel fine.

“I heard the crack from the back of the shop. You’re going to the hospital. We’ll close the store for the day.”

“I can’t just close the store for the day! Laura will kill me!”

“I can and I will. She and I co-own this place.”

Stiles looked Derek up and down again, a confused look on his face. “Where do you have to get to work then?”

“I’m a ranger in the preserve. I can’t deal with being inside so much and books are Laura’s thing. Anyway, let’s get you out to your Jeep. I’ll drive carefully.”

Stiles looked unsure for a few moments before he held his arms up for Derek to help him stand. The short trip to his Jeep was painful and awkward, but it didn’t beat the process of actually trying to get into the car. Once he finally sat down and got his seatbelt on he was breathing heavily from the pain. Derek continued to watch him with that inscrutable look on his face, and Stiles pretended it didn’t make his stomach squirm. He distracted himself from the pain by rambling on about whatever popped into his head and Derek reciprocated with occasional, if terse, responses.

A long while later, thanks to his painfully careful driving, they arrive at the ER and Stiles checked himself in while Derek spoke with Laura on the phone. After hanging up, he turned to Stiles.

“Laura’s going to come get you once you’re done here. I’ll leave your Jeep at the shop.” He turned to leave before turning back and flashing Stiles a small smile that made his stomach flip. “Sorry about, you know.” His eyes flickered down to the profile of Stiles’s ass for brief second, and Stiles face turned splotchy and red.

“It’s-it’s okay.” He spluttered out as Derek turned to go again. “But you’re paying my ER bill!” He called after him. He swore he heard a chuckle.

The whole process revealed a fractured tailbone about which he could do very little but carry a cushion around with him and avoid rigorous activity. The oxycodone he was prescribed was definitely the reason Derek had taken his car.

Laura met him back in the waiting room and grimaced as she saw his awkward limp. “So you met Derek. And he broke your ass.” She winked and chuckled at the mortified redness that spread rapidly over Stiles’s cheeks once more.

The ride back to the shop was marginally less painful with the cushion and fast acting oxy, but Stiles was grateful when he finally got to step out of the car and lean against the shop counter in the AC. His keys sitting on the register caught his eye, and he smiled when he saw the note sitting underneath them. _I don’t want to be responsible for breaking more parts of you. Let Laura drive you home._

Stiles didn’t see Derek for a while thanks to the pain meds and orders from Laura to stay home, but he had very mysteriously acquired Stiles number and kept sending Stiles movie recommendations and funny anecdotes from the preserve. He was oddly more conversational over text than he had been in person, but Stiles could understand that.

A mug of coffee was waiting for him on the counter every day after he returned to work with the same note saying pay back until your butts better. It always made his face twist up in a besotted grin, even though he couldn’t quite decipher if Derek just felt bad or wanted more. Stiles had to wear loose pants and wasn’t allowed on the ladder until his fracture had healed and customers slowed down substantially for the next few weeks. He couldn’t figure that out either. No one had ever accused Stiles of being perceptive about human behavior.

The day his fracture was cleared Stiles walked to work out of the sheer pleasure that he could, and the shop was busier than it had been in weeks. It was also the first time since the accident that Derek dropped in, this time through the front door.

“Oh hi!” Stiles smiled widely at him. “Thanks for all the coffee. And the movie suggestions. And random stories.” He trailed off when he saw the devilish smile on Derek’s lips. “What?”

“Would you get a book for me? Since you can now and all.”

“Um… yeah I guess.” Stiles still didn’t know exactly what the deal with him on the ladder was, but the way Derek asked him made his face heat and his heart pound. “What do you want?”

“Pick your favorite thing from the mythology shelf.” Derek nodded up at one of the higher shelves with a devious smile.

Stiles heart thundered and he licked his lips nervously as he turned to the ladder, slid it to the mythology section, and started climbing. “If I fall again, you’re going to be my personal caretaker until I’m better.” He said loudly, feeling bizarrely brave. When he looked down, Derek was turning surprisingly pink at the suggestion.

As Stiles continued up the ladder he heard Derek mutter in wonderment, “So that’s why this place is so popular.”

“Oh my god! What is with you people and me on the ladder?” Stiles couldn’t take it anymore, and if he wanted to hear what this was about, he wanted to hear it from Derek.

“You really don’t know?” Derek sounded skeptical, and Stiles sighed loudly in response. “Those pants make your ass look good.”

Stiles froze on the ladder before quickly reversing and stepping down where he turned to stare at Derek, skeptical smugness on his face. “Can you say that once again?”

Derek crossed his glorious arms and raised his expressive eyebrows in amusement. “You have a really nice ass and those pants you wear do nice things for it.” His face turned smug as the flush already covering Stiles’s face turned deeper. “And I’d like to take you and your cute butt out to dinner so you can tell me more about werewolves in person.”

Stiles bobbed happily on his heels as he smiled shyly at Derek from under his lashes. “They are my favorite mythological creature.”

Derek helped him close the shop and as they walked out towards the Jeep, he slipped his hand into Stiles’s very tight back pocket. He finally got what it was with the ladder.


End file.
